Sign in or 
Share this
Singapore: Social Media Trends
1. General
Singapore's Blogosphere, characterized.
Yu-Ru Lin, a social network analyst carried out studies in the local blogosphere in 2006 and derived a visual representation of the interconnections. The local blogosphere is found to be a closed community, isolated from the global blogosphere, generally defined as a 'community with no obvious central topic' dominated by people within the age range of 20-30 years old. [Source - Singapore Blogosphere and Political Participation]
Many netizens lament that the local blogosphere is increasingly become a ground for the voicing of complaints and dissents, pointing to Xiaxue, one of Singapore's more famous bloggers.
2. Social Networking
Singapore's number one social networking website: Friendster? Or Facebook?
Friendster is officially Singapore's number one social networking website in 2008, although as of 2009 - it is likely that Facebook may have taken over.
In 2008, statistics confirmed Friendster as Singapore's number one social networking website for all ages. On the whole, it is two times more popular than second runner-up, Facebook, although the relative popularity varies with the different age groups.
For the 15-24 years age group, Friendster is 2.2 times more popular than Facebook. For the 25-34 years age group, it is 1.5 times more popular. A similar popularity result is yielded for the 35-44 years age group, at 1.6 and finally, Friendster is 37% more popular than Facebook for the 45-54 year age group. [Source - CNet Asia]
Alexa's statistics for the Top 100 websites in Singapore, however - suggests that this trend may have been bucked in present-day 2009. Friendster is presently ranked the 9th top website in Singapore while Facebook is standing at position 6. [Source - Alexa] Additionally, the growth of Facebook is comparatively larger, having grown by 4.8 times between August 2007 and January 2008. [Source - Marketing Interactive]
As of April 2008, the number of worldwide Facebook users is estimated at 175 million users, with Singaporean users constituting about 638 thousand of them. [Source - The Sunday Times (April 5th, 2009)]
Roughly half of Singapore's youth participate in online Social Networking
The Synovate Young Asian's Survey conducted in 2008 - which involved surveying young people between the ages of 8 and 24 regarding engagement of specific activities in the past 30 days - revealed that slightly more than half of Singapore's youth engage in Social Networking online, standing at 51%. It is presently ranked sixth in the list of popular youth activities shown in Figure 2.1. [Source - The Straits Times]
3. Micro-Blogging
Plurk dominates the microblogging scene in Singapore.
It seems like Plurk is preferred over Twitter in Singapore, in a stark contrast to the United Kingdom where Twitter dominates in the realm of microblogging, having been ranked the 7th top social networking site in the UK. [Source - WebProNews]
In Singapore however, Plurk first overtook Twitter in terms of the number of visits in July 2008, and the gap between Plurk and Twitter has been gradually widening until today. As of the week ending 7th February 2009, the number of hits to Plurk is 1.5 times that of Twitter's. [Source - Hitwise]
Twitter isn't doing that badly either, with surges in the number of Singapore users.
Based on data from Hitwise, a research firm - the number of Singaporean netizens utilizing Twitter has jumped by about 602% during the period between January 2008 and 2009. When some users were interviewed, some stated that they've heard about this microblogging tool from their friends, whereas another user mentioned that he was drawn to it due to its simple interface and functionality, in contrast to other social networking tools such as Facebook. [Source - The Sunday Times (April 5th, 2009)]
4. The Blogosphere
The rise of blogshops and e-commerce
Blogshops first saw its beginnings in 2005 where net-savvy youngsters began hawking second-hand items on blogs such as Livejournal and Blogger as a source of income. This hawking of goods was later facilitated with the establishment of online communities such as SGSellTrade which provides a one-stop place for sellers to post their products, as well as for buyers to browse what is available. As of March 2009, this community has more than 12000 members and 13 moderators.
Since 2005, blogshops have gone beyond simply second-hand goods and have slowly begun to resemble real businesses, with the sale hand-made accessories and imported apparel from sources such as Bangkok and Taiwan.
Although blogshops are mostly run by teens and young adults, it has been recently reported in February 2009 that even young mothers are hopping on the blogshop bandwagon as a source of additional income. [Source - The Straits Times]
Figure 4.1
In line with the growth of blogshops, the proportion of Singaporean internet users who have used the internet for shopping and e-commerce has grown since 2005. As of 2007, 35% of internet users have shopped online at least once. However, it is unknown whether the growth in online purchases can be directly extrapolated and interpreted as an increase in demand for blogshops. [Source - IDA Publication: Infocomm usage for Households and Individuals]
Singaporeans trust blogs as much as traditional, mainstream media.
In a study recently conducted by OgilvyOne Asia Pacific, a marketing agency in 2009, more than one in two Singaporeans have expressed that they trust blogs as much as traditional mainstream media such as news headlines and TV bulletins. Bloggers here are generally seen to possess more integrity that those from other countries. , A market analyst, Ms Debbie Swee from IDC an information-technology research firm cites the example of how Singaporean bloggers include disclaimers when they publish blog entries that speak of another company's products and services, especially when they are paid by the advertisers to do so. [Source - My Paper article (17 Feb 2009)]
Majority of Singapore's youth participate in the blogosphere.
The Synovate Young Asian's Survey conducted in 2008 - which involved surveying young people between the ages of 8 and 24 regarding engagement of specific activities in the past 30 days - revealed that the bulk of Singapore's youth maintain a weblog. The percentage of Singapore's youth that participated in blogging activities stands at 62%. It is presently ranked third in the list of popular youth activities shown in Figure 4.2. [Source - The Straits Times]
Singapore's Blogosphere, characterized.
Yu-Ru Lin, a social network analyst carried out studies in the local blogosphere in 2006 and derived a visual representation of the interconnections. The local blogosphere is found to be a closed community, isolated from the global blogosphere, generally defined as a 'community with no obvious central topic' dominated by people within the age range of 20-30 years old. [Source - Singapore Blogosphere and Political Participation]
Many netizens lament that the local blogosphere is increasingly become a ground for the voicing of complaints and dissents, pointing to Xiaxue, one of Singapore's more famous bloggers.
2. Social Networking
Singapore's number one social networking website: Friendster? Or Facebook?
Friendster is officially Singapore's number one social networking website in 2008, although as of 2009 - it is likely that Facebook may have taken over.
In 2008, statistics confirmed Friendster as Singapore's number one social networking website for all ages. On the whole, it is two times more popular than second runner-up, Facebook, although the relative popularity varies with the different age groups.
For the 15-24 years age group, Friendster is 2.2 times more popular than Facebook. For the 25-34 years age group, it is 1.5 times more popular. A similar popularity result is yielded for the 35-44 years age group, at 1.6 and finally, Friendster is 37% more popular than Facebook for the 45-54 year age group. [Source - CNet Asia]
Alexa's statistics for the Top 100 websites in Singapore, however - suggests that this trend may have been bucked in present-day 2009. Friendster is presently ranked the 9th top website in Singapore while Facebook is standing at position 6. [Source - Alexa] Additionally, the growth of Facebook is comparatively larger, having grown by 4.8 times between August 2007 and January 2008. [Source - Marketing Interactive]
As of April 2008, the number of worldwide Facebook users is estimated at 175 million users, with Singaporean users constituting about 638 thousand of them. [Source - The Sunday Times (April 5th, 2009)]
Roughly half of Singapore's youth participate in online Social Networking
The Synovate Young Asian's Survey conducted in 2008 - which involved surveying young people between the ages of 8 and 24 regarding engagement of specific activities in the past 30 days - revealed that slightly more than half of Singapore's youth engage in Social Networking online, standing at 51%. It is presently ranked sixth in the list of popular youth activities shown in Figure 2.1. [Source - The Straits Times]
Figure 2.1 - Top 10 activities for Singapore's youth
3. Micro-Blogging
Plurk dominates the microblogging scene in Singapore.
It seems like Plurk is preferred over Twitter in Singapore, in a stark contrast to the United Kingdom where Twitter dominates in the realm of microblogging, having been ranked the 7th top social networking site in the UK. [Source - WebProNews]
In Singapore however, Plurk first overtook Twitter in terms of the number of visits in July 2008, and the gap between Plurk and Twitter has been gradually widening until today. As of the week ending 7th February 2009, the number of hits to Plurk is 1.5 times that of Twitter's. [Source - Hitwise]
Twitter isn't doing that badly either, with surges in the number of Singapore users.
Based on data from Hitwise, a research firm - the number of Singaporean netizens utilizing Twitter has jumped by about 602% during the period between January 2008 and 2009. When some users were interviewed, some stated that they've heard about this microblogging tool from their friends, whereas another user mentioned that he was drawn to it due to its simple interface and functionality, in contrast to other social networking tools such as Facebook. [Source - The Sunday Times (April 5th, 2009)]
4. The Blogosphere
The rise of blogshops and e-commerce
Blogshops first saw its beginnings in 2005 where net-savvy youngsters began hawking second-hand items on blogs such as Livejournal and Blogger as a source of income. This hawking of goods was later facilitated with the establishment of online communities such as SGSellTrade which provides a one-stop place for sellers to post their products, as well as for buyers to browse what is available. As of March 2009, this community has more than 12000 members and 13 moderators.
Since 2005, blogshops have gone beyond simply second-hand goods and have slowly begun to resemble real businesses, with the sale hand-made accessories and imported apparel from sources such as Bangkok and Taiwan.
Although blogshops are mostly run by teens and young adults, it has been recently reported in February 2009 that even young mothers are hopping on the blogshop bandwagon as a source of additional income. [Source - The Straits Times]
Figure 4.1
In line with the growth of blogshops, the proportion of Singaporean internet users who have used the internet for shopping and e-commerce has grown since 2005. As of 2007, 35% of internet users have shopped online at least once. However, it is unknown whether the growth in online purchases can be directly extrapolated and interpreted as an increase in demand for blogshops. [Source - IDA Publication: Infocomm usage for Households and Individuals]
Singaporeans trust blogs as much as traditional, mainstream media.
In a study recently conducted by OgilvyOne Asia Pacific, a marketing agency in 2009, more than one in two Singaporeans have expressed that they trust blogs as much as traditional mainstream media such as news headlines and TV bulletins. Bloggers here are generally seen to possess more integrity that those from other countries. , A market analyst, Ms Debbie Swee from IDC an information-technology research firm cites the example of how Singaporean bloggers include disclaimers when they publish blog entries that speak of another company's products and services, especially when they are paid by the advertisers to do so. [Source - My Paper article (17 Feb 2009)]
Majority of Singapore's youth participate in the blogosphere.
The Synovate Young Asian's Survey conducted in 2008 - which involved surveying young people between the ages of 8 and 24 regarding engagement of specific activities in the past 30 days - revealed that the bulk of Singapore's youth maintain a weblog. The percentage of Singapore's youth that participated in blogging activities stands at 62%. It is presently ranked third in the list of popular youth activities shown in Figure 4.2. [Source - The Straits Times]
Figure 4.2 - Top 10 activities for Singapore's youth
Shift from personal to public and social blogging
Shift from personal to public and social blogging
We have noticed a trend whereby there is a gradual shift from personal blogging to public or social blogging. Group blogs and blog aggregators (e.g. Intelligent Singaporean ) act as bulletin boards where bloggers can voice their views on various topics, and invite comments and discussion from other fellow bloggers. This facilitates more open sharing and quicker exchange of ideas and opinions. Other examples of group blogs are Singapore Angle as well as Yummy.
Growth in Specialized Blogs
In addition to the above, another trend spotted is a wave of specialized blogs entering the blogosphere. While celebrity bloggers continue to entertain the majority of Singaporean netizens, these specialized bloggers focus their content around specific areas of interest, thus gathering like-minded people to join the conversation. Here are some examples of specialized blogs:
The Digital Movement: focuses on technology (and even social media). Visit http://www.thedigitalmovement.org/blog/
For Entrepreneurs Only: Blog for Christian Entrepreneurs. Visit http://entrepreneur.com.sg/wordpress/
Growth in Specialized Blogs
In addition to the above, another trend spotted is a wave of specialized blogs entering the blogosphere. While celebrity bloggers continue to entertain the majority of Singaporean netizens, these specialized bloggers focus their content around specific areas of interest, thus gathering like-minded people to join the conversation. Here are some examples of specialized blogs:
The Digital Movement: focuses on technology (and even social media). Visit http://www.thedigitalmovement.org/blog/
For Entrepreneurs Only: Blog for Christian Entrepreneurs. Visit http://entrepreneur.com.sg/wordpress/
5. Other Trends
Google is the most used Search Engine in Singapore
Based on the statistics obtained from comScore qSearch, Google searches comprised 146 million out of a total of 221 million searches conducted over the month of February, comprising 66% of the total number of searches. This makes Google the most popular search engine in Singapore. The second-ranked search engine is Yahoo! Search, holding a 17.4% share of the searches conducted by Singaporeans. [Source - comScore Press Release]
The popularity of Google in Singapore may be due to its ease of use and fast search and loading speeds. The term 'Google' is also used commonly used as a verb in Singapore, replacing the word 'search' such as - "I'll go and Google for this information."
Google is the most used Search Engine in Singapore
Based on the statistics obtained from comScore qSearch, Google searches comprised 146 million out of a total of 221 million searches conducted over the month of February, comprising 66% of the total number of searches. This makes Google the most popular search engine in Singapore. The second-ranked search engine is Yahoo! Search, holding a 17.4% share of the searches conducted by Singaporeans. [Source - comScore Press Release]
The popularity of Google in Singapore may be due to its ease of use and fast search and loading speeds. The term 'Google' is also used commonly used as a verb in Singapore, replacing the word 'search' such as - "I'll go and Google for this information."
Figure 4.3 - Top Search Engines in Singapore
brendalogy |
Latest page update: made by brendalogy
, Apr 7 2009, 1:58 PM EDT
(about this update
About This Update
Edited by brendalogy
162 words added view changes - complete history) |
|
Keyword tags:
social media trends
More Info: links to this page
|
There are no threads for this page.
Be the first to start a new thread.
